Ship&#39;s-bells clock



.S. W. BALCH.

SHIPS ems CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I9, 1919 1,378,438, Patented May 17, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET Inventor S. W. BALCH SHIPS BELLS CLOCK. APPLICATIONIILED MAY 19. 1919.

Patented May 17, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Inve ntol". %M4 71 404,4

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL W. BALCH, 0F MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

SHIP S-BELLS CLOCK.

Original application filed June 29, 1918,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 242,564. Divided and this application filed May 19,

I 1919. Serial No. 298,208.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL W. BALGH, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ships-Bells Clocks, of which the following is a specification.

This application is filed as a divisional application of my application filed June 29, 1918, for geographical clocks Serial No. 242,564.

The object of this invention is to provide a striking mechanism which is particularly suited to striking ships bells, and which is of simple construction and has a minimum number of parts for the release and stopping of the strike train. A further object is to provide a striking mechanism with means for stopping the final stroke for which the hammer is tripped without additional parts separately moving from the parts ordinarily provided for governing the striking of the clock.

Ships bells are sounded at intervals of half an hour, and are in a series of one to eight, there being an even number of strokes at each hour point and an odd number of strokes at each half-hour point. The series repeatsat intervals of four hours. When there are more than two strokes the intervals between strokes are alternately short and long, so that at hour points there is a series of double taps, and at half-hour points a single tap concludes the series.

In the mechanism here shown the train runs at each half-hour point the same as at the succeeding hour point and at the last trip of the hammer it is prevented from falling sufficiently to strike the bell.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings which form a part of this application- Figure 1 is a side view of the works of a clock embodying this invention, the dial and dial frame being in section, and the usual time and strike trains being only partially shown.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the works with the rear plate broken away, the striking mechanism being at the instant of release.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are positional views showing respectively the instants of release of the last pair of strokes and the stop position, at an hour point.

.side and pass if the Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are positional views showing respectively the instant of release of the last stroke which is sounded, the succeeding trip which is prevented from sounding, and the stop position, at a half-hour point.

A dial 13 carries the usual twelve hour designations. A center arbor 16 is driven through a pinion 17 in friction connection with the arbor from the time train. The arbor carries a minute hand 18. An hour hand 19 is carried by an hour-hand carrying sleeve 21. A gear train consisting of a pinion 29 and gear 31 connects the center arbor with a snail arbor 38 in the ratio of four revolutions of the center arbor to one of the snail arbor, and a continuation of the train consisting of a pinion 32 and gear 33 connects the snail arbor with the hourhand carrying sleeve in the ratio of three revolutions of the snail arbor to one of the hour-hand carrying sleeve. The snail arbor carries a snail 39 which determines the number of pairs of strokes or trips of the hammer.

On the center arbor and in fixed relation to the minute hand is a lifting cam consisting of a block 41 with two tripping pins 42, 42 diametrically opposite and equidistant from the center, and two stop pins 43, 44 at different distances from the center. The tripping pins are positioned minute hand so as to release a tripping lever 46 at the hour and half-hour points and the stop pins are positioned where the lever will fall on them when tripped. The lever is laterally fiexible and inclined near the end so that the pins can push it to one clock is turned back; ward. It is partof a tripping element the other part ofwhich is a spacing dog 47 which ends in a toe 48. This element has a hub 49 through which freely passes a rock shaft 51 of a locking element which includes a locking dog 52 fastened thereto which is normally in the path of a stop pin53 in one of the wheels 54 of the strike train. Also fastened to the rock shaft is a rack detent 57 the end of a rack 58 when the striking mechanism has completed its runat an hour or a half-hour point, excepting the last stroke or trip of the hammer. The rack detent engages the rack teeth successively and detains the rack while the striking is in progress. As the tripping lever approaches the end of its lift in relation to thewhich falls under the end of v by either of the lifting pins of the lifting cam the rack detent is lifted from under the end of the rack, thereby permitting the rack to fall until a pin 59 in the side of its arm is stopped by the snail. At the same time the toe of the spacing dog pushes the end of the locking dog out from the path of the pin in the strike train and this toe is instead shifted into the path of the pin. By making the spacing dog shorter than the lock ing dog the strike train is permitted to move a little if desired for the customary warningin advance of the striking. When the tripping lever falls from the tripping pin of the lifting cam the spacing dog withdraws from under the stop pin and the strike train is released as the locking dog will not follow at once and reengage the stop pin by reason of the obstruction of the rack-detent by the rack. In this cycle by which the strike train is released but three elements are required for three contacting functions, that between a part of the tripping element and a part of the locking element being between the toe of the spacing dog and the end of the locking dog, that between the locking element and the strike train being between the end of the locking dog and the stop pin, and that between the tripping element and the strike train being between the toe of the spacing dog and the same stop pin.

@n the projecting rear end of the arbor preferably of the wheel of the strike train which carries the stop pin, and usually the third wheel of the strike train, is a hub 61 with a gathering pin 62 which lifts the rack teeth until the detent falls under the end of the rack and the locking dog connected therewith rocks into the path of the stop pin. This hub also carries an odd-stroke hammer-pin 68 and an even-stroke hammer pin 64- so spaced that the even-stroke pin follows the odd-stroke pin at one quarter of a revolution and the odd-stroke pin follows the even-stroke pin at three-quarters of a revolution so as to give the double strokes characteristic of ships bells. These pins alternately engage a hammer-tail 66 of a hammer 67 and ordinarily cause the hammer to make two strokes to each revolution and each tooth lift of the rack. The gathering pin completes each tooth lift before the hammer is released after lifting by the even-stroke pin and on. the last lift of the rack the detent falls under the end before the hammer is released, but, while this permits the locking dog to rock into the path of the stop pin, the strike train is not at once arrested owing to the location of the stop pin sufficiently back to allow the trip ping of the hammer by the even-stroke pin and continued revolution until the hammer lifting cam is again lifted by the odd-stroke pin but not tripped. When this takes place at an hour point as shown in Fig. 4;, the final stroke is sounded as the tripping lever rests against the stop pin of the lifting cam which holds the parts in such a position that the hammer is not obstructed' At a half-hour point, as shown in Fig. 7, the tripping lever falls a different distance to the stop pin of the lifting cam and an extension 68 of the rack detent forming a hammer stop falls under the raised hammer tail and holds the hammer in its raised position while the evenstroke pin passes from under the hammertail without the hammer falling its full distance and the odd-stroke pin comes under the hammer tail as shown in Fig. 8, and holds the hammer in readiness for the first stroke of the next hour.

What I claim, is

1. A striking clock having a snail, a rack, a gathering pin for the rack, a hammer, a strike train, a rigidly connected rack-detent and hammer-stop having two positions un der the end of the rack in one of Which the hammer-stop obstructs the raised hammer, means for releasing the strike train, and means operative following alternate releasing of the strike train for arresting the rackdetent and hammer-stop at the first of the two positions under the end of the rack substantially as described.

2. A striking clock having a snail, a rack, a gathering pin for the rack; a hammer, a strike train, a rigidly connected rack-detent and hammer-stop having two positions under theend of the rack in one of which the hammer-stop obstructs the raised hammer, means for releasing the strike train, and a lifting cam with two tripping members for operating the strike train releasing means, and means operative following the opera tion of one of the tripping members for arresting the rack-detent and hammer-stop at the first of the two positions under the rack, substantially as described.

3. A. striking clock having a snail and a a rack, a gathering pin for the rack, and a stop pin carried by the strike train a locking element comprising a rock shaft a rack detent and a locking dog which is brought into the path of the stop pin when the detent falls under the end of the rack, a tripping element through which the rock shaft freely passes comprising a tripping lever operated by the lifting cam and a spacing dog which pushes the locking dog out of the path of the stop pin and is instead brought into the path of the stop pin when the tripping element is operated by the lifting cam, substantially as described.

SAMUEL W. BALCH. 

